County's legislators think ethics legislation progress, but not solution

Tuesday, May 3, 2005
BILL HILES for The Dyersburg State Gazette

Dyer County's state legislators believe ethics legislation passed last week in the General Assembly is progress, but not a final solution.

"I feel just fine about it," said Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley. "When you start legislating ethics you have a problem because people will find a way around it."

"It's a start in the right direction because anything we can do to make the public more confident in the Legislature is good," said Rep. Phillip Pinion, D-Union City. "But if a person is going to be a crook, they'll find a way."

"I would have liked for the bill to be stronger, but the House wouldn't agree and this was a compromise," said Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville. "I thought the prohibition on spouses lobbying should have applied regardless of domicile."

The Senate unanimously passed a sweeping ethics reform bill Monday night that bans state contractors from hiring public officials.

Leading lawmakers hope the measure improves an image tarnished by mounting allegations that Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, has held lucrative consulting deals with close connections to state contractors.

The House passed the bill the week before, and the measure now goes to Gov. Phil Bredesen to sign it into law. The governor, who canceled a scheduled trip to Japan this week, has said he looks forward to signing ethics reform.

Legislative leaders from both parties rallied behind the reform package, which makes it a misdemeanor for state or local public officials to engage in lobbying or consulting deals. It also clarifies that any payment that rises to the level of bribery -- trading cash directly for a vote -- will continue to be a felony.

The measure also requires lawmakers to report the business names and addresses for all sources of their income. Right now, lawmakers can simply report broad areas they earn income in, like "consulting" or "insurance."

Observers hailed the bill, with the Center for Ethics in Government calling it the toughest in the nation in banning consulting work by lawmakers.

Bill sponsor Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden, said that for the first time officials in Tennessee "will be banned from being paid from private parties" to engage in "influence peddling."

"I'm proud and I'm pleased," he said. "And quite frankly, I'm a little surprised we're moving to the front in this area."

Legislative leaders have promised more ethics legislation this session, including more rules for lobbyists, and campaign finance reform.

In recent weeks, the TennCare contractors connected to Ford have scurried to distance themselves from the Memphis Democrat and fired executives close to the consulting deals.

The state is investigating the contractors, and Ford is the subject of state and federal probes into his business dealings.

Norris said he is most concerned about total money spent to influence legislators on any given issue.

"We need to address the amounts of money spent to influence legislation," he said. "It's important to know how much is being expended on lobbying a particular issue, not how much individual lobbyists make, but the amount spent on a particular issue."

Pinion said he thinks the more openness in the Legislature, the better.

"I think everything should be done in the open," he said. "Our lives should be transparent because that's the price you pay when you run for office."

Fitzhugh said ethics is a matter of right and wrong, not necessarily legality.

"This all came about because of a certain senator from Shelby County," he said. "What he's accused of doing is wrong whether it's technically wrong or not.

"We passed this all a couple of years ago in the House and it died in the Senate."

Pinion represents state House District 77, including a small portion of North Dyersburg and most of the east, north and western portions of Dyer County. Fitzhugh represents state House District 82, including most of the city of Dyersburg and the Southeast portion of Dyer County.

Norris' 32nd senatorial district includes all of Dyer County.

(The Associated Press contributed to this article.)